Vampire Of The New World

Both Brent and Steve were quiet and looked at Celie who was still busy talking to her other guests. Eventually, Celie reached her table near the stage and was about to sit down with her parents when the music suddenly stopped. Then, the band started playing romantic music. A video played on the projector screen and everyone saw Celie's pictures from when she was young. Then, her old pictures disappeared and replaced with more recent pictures of her.

Celie was surprised at the audio-visual presentation and smiled brightly. She then turned and mouthed 'thank you' to her captive audience. The pictures quickly transitioned to videos of Celie posing at famous landmarks around the world and in each of the videos, she was with a tall and handsome man.

The first video was of Celie at New York's Central Park in autumn and she was embracing a man while red and orange leaves fell in the background. This was replaced by the Eiffel Tower glittering in the distance as Celie tiptoed to kiss the same man. She was then showed holding on to the man and they waved their hands at the camera as they walked toward the Sydney Opera House. The final video was of the sea as the sun was setting. The sky was ablaze with different hues of red and orange. Then, words started to appear: Will you be my wife, Celeste de Luna?

Celie held her hands to her mouth and as soon as the words appeared on the projection screen, looked around her. A tall man wearing a dark suit started walking towards Celie, the spotlight focused on the couple. The man then kneeled before Celie and offered her a diamond ring. The large diamond shone brilliantly under the spotlight which made everyone in the room gasp. Celie placed her hands on the man's shoulders and nodded.

The band played lively music and the projector screen showed the words: She said 'yes'! The grand ballroom was in an uproar. People were shouting and applauding all at once. The man in front of Celie rose and inserted the ring on Celie's finger. The noise was deafening when the couple kissed passionately and were locked in a tight embrace. There were popping noises and confetti started to rain on the couple.

The emcee's voice was then heard over the noise. "Everyone, let's congratulate the soon-to-be married, Mr. Renan Fidel and Ms. Celeste de Luna!" There was renewed cheering from the crowd which took a while before it died down. Renan then held on Celie's arm and helped her sit down. He then shook hands with everyone at the table and took the seat next to his fiancée.

Lisa and Nestie took their seats. Both Steve and Brent remained standing for a few moments until they saw that everyone else had started sitting down.

Lisa saw the dejected Steve staring blankly at the far wall and said to him reassuringly, "She really liked your Ecuadorian roses." Lisa then reached out and patted Steve's hand. Steve avoided Lisa's gaze and just looked at his hand.

"And she definitely liked the kiss," said Nestie, encouraging Brent with a pat on the back. Brent merely raised an elbow to stop Nestie and then lifted the glass of water to drink.

"Were you in on this? Just how well do you know your cousin?" Nestie decided to ask Lisa.

"I know that there were at least three suitors, but Celie did not mention how far she's come with the businessman," said Lisa. "I know that she's been travelling around the world recently, but I didn't know that it was with him."

Renan and Celie sat next to each other at the front table with Celie's parents who were also quite enthusiastic with what had transpired. Celie looked very happy as she talked while Renan was beaming with pride, his arm around Celie's waist. Celie stretched his arm and was showing her engagement ring to her friends. Those she showed her ring to were invariably amazed and excited for Celie.

"I guess that's that," said Brent, stretching his legs under the table. Then, he said to Steve. "Fancy a beer, bro?"

"Maybe two beers," said Steve with a sigh.

"I didn't know you drink beer, Doc Steve," remarked Lisa.

Steve turned to her and said, "Only on certain occasions."

Nestie raised a hand and called for a waiter, but everyone seemed busy delivering food and c.o.c.ktail. Nestie decided to stand up to call the attention of a waiter nearby. "Hey, waiter, can you come over here, please? They want to have some beer."

The waiter was holding a tray and setting the food down at one of the tables. He stared at Nestie and frowned. Then, he told Nestie, "Why don't you get the beer from the kitchen yourself? Can't you see I'm busy? You're the one not doing anything."

Nestie was about to respond when he felt Lisa tug at his shirt. Lisa then pointed at Nestie's shirt and then at the waiter, reminding Nestie that he wore the same uniform. Nestie just held back his head and raised a hand to his forehead.

Brent and Steve saw what happened and laughed aloud. Lisa, unable to restrain herself, laughed as well.

"Go on and laugh, all of you," said Nestie. "Anyway, I'll just go to the kitchen and fetch you your drinks." Nestie then stood up and walked towards the kitchen. As he walked, there were some calls to him from other guests, but he ignored them all and went straight to the kitchen with his head held high.

"I heard you two speaking. Is it true that you and Celie are cousins?" Brent asked Lisa.

"Yes, they are," Steve answered on behalf of Lisa who merely nodded. Then, he said, "I didn't realize I was being played all along."

"Sorry, Doc," Lisa was apologetic.

"You did say you're a journalist." Steve turned to Brent. "Didn't you cover her in your gossip section?"

"Well, they did travel outside Cardena and…" started Brent.

"Oh, yes and you're only covering local news," continued Steve.

"Please don't be angry, Doc Steve," said Lisa.

"I'm not angry, Lisa. It's just that…" Steve paused to take a deep breath. "It's just that those Ecuadorian roses really did cost a lot of money." Steve then laughed. Lisa and Brent joined in the laughter and Brent gave Steve's shoulder a light punch.